First because he was just, well , right. We have disgraced ourselves for year after year by abandoning any pretence of compliance with our own traditions not just of  fairness but of decency. And we've finally stopped. Just in time.

And also because at this last moment he has justified those, all over the world, who sympathized with us on 9/ll. Remember? .. Over the intervening 8 years we have shamed them, casually thrown away most of that reservoir of good will. Rather than being  a "City on the Hill", we've been just another run of the mill  country which jettisons its principles precisely when it is time for them to come into play.  

A process which we would have completed if we had tried these 9/ll accused in a military forum.

Why is it I'm reminded of the first words of my first OCS class on the military legal system?

The first thing you must understand gentlemen, is that this is not a class in military justice , It's a class in military law.

 Thank God.And Eric Holder, we're finally going to do this right.

The solution to what ?

Well, almost everthing.

o Investment bankers are motivated to take excessive risks.

  Tax every dollar earned over $1,000,000 at 90%. They'll be a lot less tempted.

o Entertainment figures earn as much in a year as Joe the plumber does in a life time

  See above

o We can't afford health care/decent schools/you name it

Collect the money from those who have the money..

o The increase in the deficit is undermining the dollar

   Increase revenues the old fashioned way. By taxing those who can afford it

o The tax code is an offence to the human race.

  Eliminate the serried rows of special arrangements  so that any citizen can compute his taxes without assistance.

o Voters have lost interest interest in  exercising  control over spending

. See above. Not only should every tax payer sign their return. They should certify that they computed it without assistance. That'll catch their attention.

o The alternative minimum tax is unfairly affecting those who should not be subject to it.

No need for it if the tax code is progressive

o We need incentives in the tax code to encourage desirable projects

Collect the $s through taxation. Then if we want to encourage something do it the old fashioned way:let Congress vote to pay for it. Somehow I think fewer projects will seem desirable.

o Lobbyists will distort the tax system in ways the voters can't understand.

See above

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So OK , we agree but the tax code is so complicated that it is literally impossible to unravel.

Uh,uh, We have a perfectly good code. It was in existence on Jan 1 1953. Just get it out of the files.

was impressive. Relaxed and self assured ,talking in a near conversational tone and clearly in full  command of his material and himself he was a real life talking and walking example of why the Republicans' ideas are irrelevant in the debate on health care.

And on most other issues.

Turning the pages of the bill , with amused sarcasm he recited case after case of things  the health care  tzar will supervise.Clearly expecting that we , like him, will be appalled that the Government will actually do something. As opposed to the deeply held conservative position that it should do nothing, merely stand by wringing its hands and hoping for the best.

Today's Times magazine describes the vastly improved results a Colorado medical practice obtains by actually telling doctors what to do. That would no doubt elecit  a chuckle from Boehner. Whose idea for controlling medical costs(and outcomes) like  his idea for controlling the banking system bears an uncanny resemblence to the(naturally) least effective treatment for prostate cancer:watchfull waiting. Otherwise known as "do nothing and hope the cancer will cure itself ".

It is Adam Smith gone mad. Make no plans, give no directions, hope for the best.

It's not how Boehner conducts his own life. He prepared for his  remarks last night. Someone had gone through the bill and selected the pages containing the dire threat that if Health Care passes, the Government will actually take an interest in what the Medical Professions is doing. He didn't just open the bill at random, he had a plan.

In case you wondered why New Orleans and the occupation of Iraq were such disasters look no further. They were the necessary consequences of a philosophy which advocates  dealing with all problems  by "watchful waiting"..